From DE 2810 822 C2 and DE 32 30 455 C2 devices are known for welding of loosely joined car bodies for motor vehicles. The devices have a welding and a fixing place in which a transport track is located to transport the car body. Side section carriers are movable from a standby position into a working position and back and mounted at each side of the transport track by positioning devices pressable against the car body and having positioning arms adapted to the geometric shape of the car body to be welded. At least one welding device is located laterally of the transport track and provided with a welding head. The welding head is adjustable to the car body.
The positioning devices of each side are arranged at side section carriers which in a swivable arrangement are hung to rails running in the transport direction of the car body and are configured as a rotary axle. The side section carriers act as side section clamping frames for those car body side sections which have already before been loosely connected with the underbody in a separate working cycle. To exchange the side section carriers for a set of other side section carriers whose positioning device is adjusted to the geometric shape of another car body type, these side section carriers are moved along the rails in the car body transport direction. For loose joining of a car body, particularly for mounting of car body side sections and for subsequent geometric welding and, if required, for welding-out, independent stations are required which need much free space. Moreover, a changeover from one car body type to another is relatively extensive.
From WO95/32886 a generic method and a device are known for feeding, clamping and processing of car body components in a processing station where the components are clamped with one or several clamping frame(s) and where the clamping frames for the side section frames and the roof frames are handled and fed by one or more multipleaxle manipulator(2). By the aid of the manipulators, the clamping frames are supported against each other, positioned and locked, thus forming a clamping frame casing surrounding the component parts at least at four sides. The clamping frames are equipped with suitable positioning devices and form a self-carrying clamping frame casing which is preferably closed in annular or cubic form around the car body. It takes a great deal of space in a hall and geometric welding can not be started until the whole clamping frame casing is closed.